Mitski – The Land: The Live Album Review

What does Mitski sound like?

Quirky, direct alt-rock, blending in some country swagger for her live show.

The review of ‘The Land: The Live Album’ by Mitski

Whilst we salivate for a Blu-ray release of the concert itself, Mitski has released ‘The Land: The Live Album’ as a pay-what-you-want digital download. With all proceeds going to Direct Relief (a great charity I’ve worked with in the past), this is the perfect time to dive in and either celebrate an artist in her element or experience a range of Mitski’s back catalogue.

The album has 21 tracks, with 23 songs performed and a heavy skew towards her most recent album, ‘The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We’. That album had a country twang to it, and so this live show brings along plenty of country flair. New songs benefit from fuller, sometimes extended arrangements. The added drifting guitars to the beautifully understated ‘I’m Your Man’ show how little flourishes can boost a performance. Elsewhere, ‘Pink In The Night’ turns into a carnival rock samba with blaring rotary-style organs and rolling, marching percussion. The crowd sing along to ‘Nobody’ like an anthem for the outcasts, and pairing tracks like ‘Thursday Girl’ and ‘Geyser’ into an explosion of emotion works fantastically in a live setting. Mitski is on form vocally, and whilst she won’t be screaming the house down, there is plenty of emotion in every song. Sometimes the emotion comes from the fact that Mitski sings softly and lets the instruments around her swamp her. It’s all part of the existential everyday dread that Mitski provides in her music.

Whilst I’m looking forward to the visuals to complement the music, this live album is a great representation of a live Mitski performance. The sound quality is great. Crowd cheers drop off when the music kicks off, choosing to respect the music rather than scream over it. As the recordings took place over three nights, the crowd noise levels are slightly different across the recordings, but it’s barely noticeable. It could just be that the crowd really wanted ‘Buffalo Replaced’!

If you’ve never tried Mitski before, this is a great place to start. The digital album is only available for a “limited time”, so grab it while it is around.

Recommended track: Pink in the Night

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